EARNING ITS OWN INCOME TO CARE FOR THE CHILDREN

 

There were days when the orphans living in Precious Heritage Children’s Home in the rural outskirts of the Philippines did not have vegetables to eat. Rice with a bit of meat was all they had sometimes. Today, the kids have a fresh supply of vegetables from their own garden, attend the school right at their doorstep, read at the library after school, and think about what they want to become in the future.

 

Our work began in November 2011. Precious Heritage was still a basic orphanage in this rural community, caring for orphans who were mostly abandoned at a young age. Like many other orphanages, they were heavily reliant on donations. They received support from visitors from time to time and some assistance from a church. This was certainly not sustainable in the long term for caring for these children. So, with the founder, Joel Santos, we various options to make the home self-sufficient.

 

Our first project was to build a school to take in paying students from the neighborhood. This initiative enables the home to earn its own income through school fees to cover daily expenses for the kids and run the place. In addition, it a valuable service to the community and helps foster relationships within it. Investment example: With an investment of 15 thousand USD, we were able to build three fully equipped classrooms for 60 paying students from the community. With parts of the profits, the children's home can cover the yearly expenses for up to 30 children.

 

The formula is very simple: Two paying students fully fund one child in need. Our second major project was to help the home build a new house for the children to stay in. With more children to care for and more children reaching their teenage years, there was a need for a house that the older girls now call home. We then observed that the children were not getting enough vitamins from vegetables.

 

In our third project, together with the kids, we built a vegetable garden from scratch. Because the vegetables are planted through their own efforts, the are excited about having greens from their own garden. With the basic needs taken care of, we moved on to the fourth project, which focused on providing college scholarships for older kids so they could continue their higher education and finally realize their dream jobs. By enabling the children to live on a steady income flow from school fees, they no longer need to worry about having a roof over their heads and food. They can now focus on studying, obtaining a better education, and reaching for bigger dreams.

 

Our work is not yet done. In the Philippines, there are still more than 1 million orphans living below the poverty line. We will continue to work closely with orphanages and children’s in Southeast Asia to help them on the road to self-sufficiency.